Economics for Teachers: Musings about Teaching Economics

As someone who has worked hard to build a lot of interactivity into my courses, I have never been interested in teaching fully online courses, in part because I have felt that the level of engaged interaction could never match that of a face-to-face class (not that there aren't some exceptional online courses out there; I just have a strong preference for the in-person connection). But the current situation is not really about building online courses that are 'just as good' as our face-to-face courses; it is about getting through this particular moment without compromising our students' learning too much. So if you are used to a lot of interaction in your F2F class, here are some options for adapting that interaction for a virtual environment: [NOTE: SDSU is a Zoom/mostly Blackboard campus so that's how I've written this but I am pretty sure that other systems have similar functionality] If you use clickers in class to break up what is otherwise mostly lect...

I am still trying to figure out why everyone seems to be freaking out but given that they apparently are, we are seeing more and more campuses closing / moving classes online (including my own). If you are among the many instructors who are now scrambling to keep your classes on track, I have some suggestions for dos and don'ts... DO wash your hands , and DON'T touch your face . Is anyone else feeling sort of appalled at how bad their personal hygiene apparently has been up to now? I'm surprised I don't get sick way more often than I do... DO get good information about COVID-19 in general. The Atlantic , which normally limits the number of articles you can access without a subscription, is giving everyone free access to some of their coverage and it is all excellent. DO check your readiness to use the technology you will need. Some institutions have developed readiness checklists (like  this one  from San Jose State). In my mind, the two big tech-related questio...